This invention relates generally to measuring arrangements, and more particularly, to a system for measuring the thickness of a strip emerging from a rolling mill, by means of a thickness measuring device.
A strip of material which emerges from a rolling mill runs unsupported until it is taken up by a reel. However, relatively thin strip materials assume a wavy shape which allows a beam from a thickness measuring device to pass orthogonally through the strip only at the crest or valley points of the wave. The measuring beam penetrates the strip at an angle with respect to the surface at all points between the crest and wave points of the wave. It is a problem with such thickness measuring systems that inaccuracies are produced in the measuring results.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a thickness measuring system wherein the strip is arranged horizontally and flat in the vicinity of the measuring device.